Road to Revelation
by allismine
Summary: A collection of LiveJournal Naruto drabble requests. Warnings will be placed at the beginning of each chapter.
1. Crushed

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Chapter One: Crushed

**Disclaimer:** _"Naruto", and all canon characters and characteristics remain the property and rights of Kishimoto Masashi. All I own is the writing itself, and any original features and / or attributes portrayed within said writing._

**Warnings:** Violence, spoilers about Gaara's past.

I--I

**Requested by:**  
_reese-puff_

**Requested Pairing / Theme:**  
_Gaara-centricism_

**Requested Genre:**  
_Angst / Horror_

**Prompt:**  
_Skulls_

I--I

The experience was always mind-numbing.

The homicidal vehemence coursing through his veins somehow managed to muffle his hearing completely, deafening him from the horrified screams piercing the cold night air. The hesitation was absent whilst the graceful flow of sand drifted through the sky upon his command, the foreboding wave of earth encasing their pathetic bodies, raising the soon-to-be corpses higher and higher from the ground. He could feel their skulls crush under his effortless force as their very beings merged with guts and sand, their physicalities churning until neither one could be discerned from the other.

Their last, desperate cling to life would drift absently from their bodies; their instinctive struggles, nothing more than reflexive attempts at freedom which grew weaker and weaker as the seconds passed by. The familiar scent of blood wandered into his perception as he watched the final flicker of life fade from his enemy's eyes.

The feeling of holding such physical ascendancy in his hands was...indescribably satisfying.

The Shukaku Jinchuuriki was addicted to the experience; a mere prisoner to the sensation.

Over the years, his conscience had become desensitized, if not _desirous_ towards the prospect of human slaughter. Each subsequent murder became easier than the last. The purity of the sand which protected him became tainted with the flesh and bones of the unworthy. With every attempt he took to verify his own existence, his identity was washed over with the blood of his victims, leaving nothing behind but an empty shell of a boy who could have been.

Whenever he assumed a piece of their soul, a part of his own escaped him.

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	2. Zephyr

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Chapter Two: Zephyr

**Warnings:** Death!fic, manga spoilers, takes place post-skip.

I--I

**Requested by:**  
_v-bear_

**Requested Pairing / Theme:**  
_SasuSaku_

**Requested Genre:**  
_Angst / Romance_

**Prompt:**  
_Wind_

I--I

_Be wary of the hands of Fate._

Tears streamed down the young Chuunin's face as she stood at the foot of his grave. Her clouded sea-green eyes scanned the name engraved upon the tombstone for the thousandth time that morning, each time with renewed hope in that she had read it wrong, and he wasn't _really_ lying there in the cold underground, and this was all just an elaborate, bittersweet nightmare that her mother would wake her up from any moment now.

_Let faith in them roam._

Footsteps approached in the grass behind her. A sympathetic hand rested on her shoulder.

_Have trust in the ways of Hope and Time._

Sakura turned around and buried her head in Sasuke's chest, sobbing uncontrollably in his welcoming embrace as his touch brought her back to the emptiness of their reality.

_And the Wind will draw him home._

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	3. A Minor Recollection

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Chapter Three: A Minor Recollection

**Warnings:** Contains OC, manga spoilers. Can also be read as an unofficial epilogue to 'Views of a Lifetime'.

I--I

**Requested by:**  
_propria-persona_

**Requested Pairing / Theme:**  
_HidanOC_

**Requested Genre:**  
_Angst / Romance_

**Prompt:**  
_Twilight's Embrace_

I--I

_"You were right, Hidan-sama.", she said, whispering through a smile as the tip of the pike pointed readily into her back. "Life is a test, and only the strong can survive it. I'm not afraid of dying, Sensei...I'm just sorry I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry for being the way I am...I'm sorry I've disappointed you."_

Shutting his eyes, Hidan lowered his head further as he recalled her last words to him.

The scene had transpired only a few hours ago.

The Jashinist knelt down and poured water down the length of the used weapon, washing away his apprentice's blood and hopefully all tangible reminders of her along with it. The other Akatsuki members would have their way with whatever unholy demon ravaged her spirit, and Zetsu would employ his cannibalistic means with whatever was left of the body. After which, it would be over. She would be gone forever.

After nearly two years of faithful service, she ended up dying willfully by his hand.

She died thinking his intentions were pure. She died thinking he was disappointed in her.

Hidan slowly rose to his feet, retrieving the scythe lying idle in the grass nearest him and walking off.

Because of situations in the past, witnessing the death of a cherished one was something the man got over quite quickly; he knew that the loss he had experienced was nothing worth dwelling on, nothing worth obsessing over. He had spent most of his life preaching Jashin's existence alone, and continuing his efforts after this incident would be just like old times. Nothing more, nothing less.

...still.

Back then, he would glance up at visions of constellations littering the night sky, knowing that wherever she was, she could look up and see the same stars as he. After two years being used to her presence, it felt odd knowing that his counterpart wouldn't be out there _waiting_ for him anymore. Although the feeling had manifested itself within a mere fragment of his lifetime, it was comforting to have that reassurance...or rather, someone to have shared it with.

If only for a little while.

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	4. Sanctify

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Chapter Four: Sanctify

**Warnings:** Vague implications of sexual content, graphic violence, masochism, self-mutilation, manga spoilers.

I--I

**Requested by:**  
_acerbitas_

**Requested Pairing / Theme:**  
_Jashin/Hidan 'Enlightenment'_

**Requested Genre:**  
_General / Spiritual_

**Prompt:**  
_Vigilance_

I--I

He could feel it coming.

The steel tip of his weapon broke through the surface of his skin, sending a sudden, tingling rush of adrenaline through him as he watched the droplets of blood trickle lightly down his chest. He managed to hold the blade in place, restraining himself with an immaculate alacrity; praying, hoping, watching, _waiting_ until the prospect wavered on the brink of sanity and the anticipation became much too great to withstand.

The skill of converting pain into pleasure was a careful technique, one which had been forged through the efforts of his delusion.

Violent tides of crimson began streaming from the penetration as Hidan drove the pike halfway into his chest, the familiar torrent of pain immediately shooting through every curve of his body. Blood gushed from around the wound, changing from threatening fluxes to powerful flows of grisly red rivers which coursed down his hip, seeping into the black cloth covering his thigh. His knuckles turned white as he squeezed his fists even tighter, tensing his clench on the handle, _drilling_ the remainder of the metal shaft deep into and through his body. The metal pike pierced through his heart with such confidence, such grace, such effortless force, it was almost as if Jashin Himself was guiding the handle.

He embraces his reach to absolute pain, knowing that he suffers only for the pleasure of his God.

As he watches the blood pour, he could feel Him smiling.

The action set his nerves on fire as they writhed in a warm, blissful, soul-tearing agony, an anguish of consecration no unsaved mind could appreciate to such extent. Pleasure and pain melded into one another, creating a single, intimately recondite feeling that surged through his veins, wracking through his still form with profound intensity. His wandering fingers dug deeper into the bare earth beside him as he tried to restrain himself from crying out in ecstasy, though he soon finds that he is once more incapable of the task. This was a pinnacle which transcended physical pleasure; soft, ephemeral moments which dared to linger within his eternity.

He cries out in rapture, in longing, in regret. He screams with the pain of not knowing _why_.

And yet already, he could feel it leaving.

Jashin's smile faded with the pleasure, and the pain. The immortal advocate's pulse returned to the repetitive, uninspired, thudding beat he knew all too well. His mind is plagued with only a single thought as he smirks into the darkness, a remembrance that will be more than enough to last him through the night.

'_You're here._'

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	5. Reflections

-

Chapter Five: Reflections

**Warnings:** None.

I--I

**Requested by:**  
_momoiro-usagi_

**Pairing / Theme:**  
_Lee-centricism_

**Genre:**  
_General_

**Prompt:**  
_Mirror_

I--I

Lee was aware that his appearance wasn't something girls his age deemed to lie within the realm of the 'attractive'. Whenever he caught a glimpse of himself upon the surface of the training ground's lake, or while passing by a store's glass window on his two hundred and thirty-seventh running lap around the village, he was reminded that he wasn't what the majority of people would have considered 'handsome'. Regarding himself as such was his way of letting the world know he didn't pay much mind to what others thought was right to believe. In his opinion, true beauty had nothing to do with what a person looked like. Taking an appropriate level of pride within each and every one of your attributes and loving yourself for who you were was what made a person attractive; looks had little, if anything, to do with it.

Of course, Haruno Sakura was a kunoichi who was blessed with both.

(If only he could help her see which of the two was more important...)

During training, Neji would find the faults within himself and within his life, obsessing over the state of excellence until he deciphered a way for his shortcomings to be corrected. Tenten, who was always so focused on hitting her own target, hadn't widened her range enough to realize her own imperfections.

Lee used to be self-conscious about his own talents as well. He couldn't control Chakra the way his classmates could, and he once believed this fact made him inferior as a Shinobi. Because of this, he struggled and trained twice as hard to reach a state of ordinariness; being _different_ wasn't an ideal which was supposed to be embraced by a future soldier of Konoha's army.

Fire and water. Good and evil. Yin and Yang. Sensei Gai always made sure to teach his students that every flaw in nature was balanced with a positive; all you had to do was find them, and you would have discovered your advantage.

Lee, unlike his teammates, had taken the time to search.

To overlook the presence of flaws beyond his control and discover the positive of his own advantages.

Lee grew to appreciate everything he was, and everything he was not. Anyone who knew him knew that he made sure to live free from self-doubt, for he knew life was much too short to waste time questioning yourself. He found the positives within his skills. He found the negatives within his opponent's. He combined this information to become a keen, strong, and insightful young man, and one hell of a Shinobi to boot.

He was one of the few, if not the only Rookie Genin, who knew exactly how he was going to lead his life.

And with that knowledge, Lee held enough self-respect and confidence within himself to easily be considered the most handsome boy in all of Konoha.

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End file.
